Advisory council of federally insured CUs for NCUA supported

April 20, 2017 -- An advisory council of federally insured credit unions intended to provide NCUA with advice and guidance about issues related to credit union federal share insurance regulation and supervision is supported by NASCUS, the result of action taken by the association’s board this week.

In a policy adopted at its quarterly meeting (in concurrence with the NASCUS Credit Union Advisory Council, a group of directors elected by NASCUS-member state-chartered credit unions from around the country), the NASCUS Board stated that a council of federally insured credit unions would provide NCUA with advice and guidance on issues related to insurance regulation and supervision. “Such an advisory council should consist of equal numbers of state chartered and federally chartered credit unions and should convene at least twice annually with the NCUA board in public meetings,” the resolution states.

The NASCUS policy echoes a proposal made by Acting NCUA Board Chairman J. Mark McWatters earlier this year. McWatters, in outlining 15 areas for reducing the regulatory and supervisory burden on credit unions, called for a Credit Union Advisory Council at the agency in order to hear – and learn – directly from the credit union community “as we work collaboratively to identify needless regulatory burden and create cost-effective solutions.”

In a letter to McWatters in February, NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito urged the acting chairman to consider an advisory council. She wrote that establishment of a “Credit Union Advisory Council” at the agency would follow what 22 out of 45 states have already done, and which, she noted, generate “common sense solutions that simultaneously assure appropriate safety measures and foster credit union growth.”

In its policy statement this week, NASCUS also noted that “properly balanced regulation and supervision considers not just the risk to be mitigated,” but should also take into account the burden of compliance and the need for business flexibility and innovation. “To help achieve that proper balance, there should robust dialogue between the regulator and the regulated,” the association’s leadership agreed.